Wires
by PenPatronus
Summary: While struggling to evade the authorities, save Barton's life and cure Tony from radiation poisoning, the Avengers discover that Loki had a backup plan, and earth is still in danger. A sequel to the movie, featuring Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner, also Clint, Natasha, Thor and Loki. Friendship, angst, drama, lots of hurt / comfort.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** While struggling to evade the authorities, save Barton's life and cure Tony from radiation poisoning, the Avengers discover that Loki had a backup plan, and earth is still in danger. A sequel to the movie, featuring Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner, also Clint, Natasha, Thor and Loki. Friendship, angst, drama, lots of hurt / comfort.

**Wires  
**  
PenPatronus

Chapter One

Tony Stark hesitated before knocking on Erik Selvig's hospital room door. It didn't use to be so hard to fake a smile. Even in the weeks following his captivity in Afghanistan he pulled it off. But since the Chitauri attack, he found few reasons to, even around the Pepper. And soon, he knew, there would be more to rob him of contentment.

"Come in!" a meek voice called after Tony banged his forefinger on the wooden door. Beneath breathing tubes and electrodes, Dr. Selvig smiled when Stark walked to the foot of his bed. "Shouldn't you be at the courthouse?"

Tony looked at his watch and shrugged. "It can wait. They can't start the party without me."

"And by 'party' you mean 'angry mob.'"

"Most likely." Tony glanced at the beeping monitors scattered about the white room. "How are you feeling, Doc?"

Selvig's lips matched his white skin. "I don't think I'll make it to Coulsen's funeral tomorrow... In fact I doubt I'll make it to _tomorrow_ tomorrow."

"They have no clue how to treat the seizures?"

"The physicians here? No. The physicians at S.H.I.E.L. D? No." Erik sighed. Speaking wore him out fast. "A Norwegian God used an alien scepter to rearrange my brain. Side effects were unavoidable." He tugged on a blanket near his waist. "How's the Hawk?"

"The same. Same symptoms. Only one seizure so far, though." Tony walked around the side of the bed and gently pulled the blanket up to Erik's chin. "Banner is working on him."

"Didn't you tell the police that Banner is in the Himalayas?"

Tony winked.

"Speaking of side effects, how are you feeling?"

"What do you mean" Tony folded his arms against his chest.

Selvig's eyes narrowed. "Don't play dumb, Stark."

"I hosed down the minute I returned to Stark Tower. I'm not radioactive."

"Anymore." Erik shook his head. "You should get a CAT scan, at least."

Tony shrugged. "What do you want me to say, Doc.? I feel perfectly fine."

"You're lying," said Selvig, "but I don't have the energy to argue."

Tony didn't deny anything. "I'll let you get some rest."

"Good luck today."

Tony gave a lazy salute. "Thanks, I'll need it."

Erik's face drooped. For the first time he looked as sick as he felt. "Goodbye, Tony."

Tony didn't like that word. He nodded and left.

* * *

The sun set on a New York evening three days after the attack. What was left of the Avengers holed up in a bomb shelter beneath Stark Tower. The authorities, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the media thought they were all long gone. Hawkeye and the Black Widow, hypothetically on another mission, most likely dyed their hair, changed their names and blended into a low-profile government office. Captain Steve Rogers most likely set off to track down long-lost relatives and friends and, meanwhile, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts spent most of their time at heated press conferences and long court sessions. The NYPD slapped an ankle cuff on Tony the second he entered court.

That evening Captain Steve Rogers lay on Tony Stark's couch with a weathered copy of _Lord of the Flies_ up to his nose. Dr. Bruce Banner sat on a barstool in front of a gurney on Cap's left. He stared, rarely blinking, at Loki's dead scepter. Every half hour or so he stood up and opened his mouth so wide that Steve expected a jubilant "eureka!" or a bellowed "dammit!" But, each time, Bruce's face fell. He sat back on the stool, rubbed his eyes and sighed. The two extra-large pizzas JARVIS delivered for dinner sat unopened on a leather lazy-boy.

Steve finished chapter six right before Natasha yelled. He dropped the book, leapt over the couch and sprinted across the cement floor to the other side of the room. Clint Barton lay unconscious in a bed in a makeshift infirmary wearing nothing but boxers. His face was paler than the white wall beside him. His back arched and his joints stiffened and a dark red drop of blood limped from his nose to his upper lip.

"Hold his legs still!" Natasha ordered Steve. She put her entire body weight down on Barton's shoulders to keep him from rolling off the bed. "Bruce, he's having another seizure!"

Banner appeared beside them with a syringe as long as his hand. He emptied the entire contents into Clint's neck with one quick thrust. "Steve, hand me that stethoscope." Rogers plucked it off an instrument tray and put it in Bruce's hands. "Dammit," Bruce whispered after he listened to Clint's pulse and respiration. "His heart is beating faster than a rabbit's."

A soft cry preceded one last convulsion, and then Clint went still. Natasha wiped her short red hair out of her face and cupped his cheeks with her petite hands. "His fever's worse, too." She looked at Bruce with wide eyes and whispered, "How much time do you think he has?"

Bruce looked at Steve and saw the same question in his eyes. "I, uh…" Bruce cleared his throat and folded his arms against his chest. "I've learned as much as I can from the scepter. Without the Cube to power it I can't begin to understand what it did to Barton's body and mind. There is one experiment I want to try but, uh, I'll need Tony's help with it. But, listen, I'm sure by now Erik Selvig's doctors have figured out something –"

"Selvig is dead," said a new voice that echoed in the narrow room. Steve, Natasha and Bruce pivoted to see Tony Stark exiting the elevator. He wore a simple black suit and tie, and twirled the disabled ankle cuff around his forefinger. "He died an hour ago."

Steve stood up straight and raised his chin. "What happened?" he asked.

Tony tossed the cuff onto the couch. "All I know is he had another seizure. The docs had no clue how to treat him. Barton has the same symptoms, so it must have something to do with that damn scepter." Tony joined their half-circle around Clint. "How's Legolas doing?" he asked.

Natasha looked fragile in her civilian clothes: dark jeans, red t-shirt, black boots. She didn't reply, just briefly stroked Clint's cheek.

Tony shared a look with Bruce, and then Steve, who kept his gaze for a long moment. Tony's nose wrinkled – briefly – and he turned on his heel toward a cabinet beside the elevator. He returned with a bottle of clear liquid and four shot glasses. He poured silently, passed the shots silently, raised his own glass silently. "To Dr. Selvig," he said, "and Phil Coulsen." The four Avengers clinked their glasses together in the center of their small circle, then downed the shot.

A minute passed and then Bruce asked, "How did the court session go today?"

Tony took their glasses and walked over to a sink. He kept his back turned as he said, "Pepper and JARVIS are packing up a couple SUVs with supplies. You all need to leave tonight. Right now."

"What?" Bruce and Steve gasped.

"Why?" Natasha asked.

Tony ran the water. "I'll give you plenty of supplies: food, weapons, medical. Meet up with S.H.I.E.L.D. if you feel safe, but stay out of sight."

"Stark," Steve snapped, "what's going on?"

Tony stopped washing the glasses. He turned off the faucet and leaned heavily against the sink.

Steve's face and voice softened. He put his hand on the back of Stark's shoulder. "Tony?"

"The FBI got a warrant to search and seize everything I own," Tony said low and deep in his throat. "You have to get out of here or they'll find you. First thing tomorrow they're taking me to County."

Steve frowned. "Jail? How can they – they can't…"

"They're making him the scapegoat," Bruce explained. "New York was attacked by aliens. Hundreds of people died and the culprit is on another planet. They need someone to blame."

"That's not fair," Steve growled. He looked at Natasha for confirmation.

She mirrored his concern, his frustration. Every line on her face tightened. Her fingers were splayed, unmoving, across Clint's pale face. "Tony," she said with a hint of her usual granite, "the company, your inventions…"

"Pepper will take over. We already discussed it. She has legal power."

"But after Loki… Stark, we still don't know who helped him, who gave him the scepter in the first place. This might not be over."

"It is for me." Tony whirled around and met their furrowed brows with an iron expression. "And maybe if they have me in custody then they won't go after any of you."

"You're no good to us behind bars."

"I'm…" Tony met Steve's eyes and held them. "I'm making the sacrifice play."

The muscles around Steve's jaw vibrated. "Tony, we need you."

"Weren't you the one lecturing me about lying down on the wire? That's what I'm doing, Steve."

Rogers took another step closer, right into Tony's personal space. "You laid down on the wire when you carried that nuke into space. You don't have anything to prove." Steve put his left hand on Tony's right shoulder, and his right on Tony's left. "We're a team now. Let's cut this wire, Tony. Together."

Tony shrugged Steve's hands away. He started to speak but, suddenly, his face turned white. His eyelids drooped, then snapped open. Alarmed, Bruce called, "Tony?" Stark looked up at the sound of his name, but his eyes squinted as if he couldn't see straight. He didn't even realize that he'd begun to teeter to the left.

"Steve he's passing out!" Natasha warned.

"Tony-" Steve grabbed Tony before he completely lost his footing, and pulled his arm across his shoulders. "Banner!"

Bruce grabbed Tony's other arm and the two Avengers guided him over to the couch. They sat down on either side of him while Natasha scurried over with a bottle of water. Tony didn't put up a fight but allowed the guys to hold him steady while Natasha helped him drink. He took a deep breath and leaned back, limp, into the cushions.

"Tony, what the hell was that?" Bruce demanded.

"Nothing," Tony whispered. "Long day in court… I'm just tired. I feel fine."

"He's lying," Natasha diagnosed.

"I'll be fine in a minute."

"Still lying."

"Tony, why haven't these started to heal?" Bruce used the soft pad of his thumb to press gently on the untouched skin above a cut on Tony's forehead – a cut from his encounter with Loki three days before. The second his skin touched Tony's, Bruce recoiled from shock. "Oh my god…"

"What?" Steve asked. "What's going on?"

Bruce's voice shifted from stern to defeated. "Tony, why didn't you tell us?"

Tony's white lips barely moved when he spoke. "I rinsed in a radiation lab. I scanned myself. I took precautions. I'm not irradiated anymore."

"That's not what I mean." A Hulk-like growl rose from Bruce's chest. "If you told me – if I knew – maybe there's still time. I can help you, Tony."

Tony shook his head slightly. For a moment, as he stared up at his friends, his eyes became wet before they returned to neutral once more. "There's nothing you can do. I'm already dead."

Steve gripped a cushion so hard that stuffing leaked from the seams. "Dammit, Banner, what's going on?"

"Radiation…" Natasha whispered. "The nuke…"

"Tony was too close to the nuke when it went off. The suit couldn't protect him from the radiation. Especially in the vacuum of space there was nothing to slow it down." Banner nodded at Tony. "He has radiation poisoning. That's why he doesn't care that he's going to jail."

"A lethal dose?" Steve murmured.

Bruce's eyes dropped to his lap. "He might have a couple days. Seventy-two hours, if he's lucky."

"Like I said," Tony whispered, "lying on the wire, Cap. Lying on the wire."

**To Be Continued**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary:** While struggling to evade the authorities, save Barton's life and cure Tony from radiation poisoning, the Avengers discover that Loki had a backup plan, and earth is still in danger. A sequel to the movie, featuring Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner, also Clint, Natasha, Thor and Loki. Friendship, angst, drama, lots of hurt / comfort.

**Wires**

PenPatronus

Chapter Two

The pair of SUVs reached Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after driving for 21 hours straight. It was 3AM, give or take a time zone. Natasha couldn't remember if time went backwards or forwards as they went west. Either way time was running out for Clint and Stark.

While Barton and Tony slept in the truck, Tasha stood guard outside. They parked in the dark and deserted lot of a local park and waited for Banner and Rogers to meet up with them. The Black Widow allowed herself a rare grin when the boys returned. She doubted that the local restaurants were still open so early in the morning, which meant that Captain America, all-star true-blue boy scout, stole all of that schawarma.

"I was getting worried," Tasha said as Steve handed her a plastic spoon and a Styrofoam carton.

"We had to hide under a hospital bed for an hour," Bruce explained, "but we got what we came for." Banner jogged around the SUV and opened the front passenger-side door. Tony Stark lay flat in the seat with his seatbelt still buckled. His skin looked ashen and red, dime-sized lesions dotted his neck and arms. "Tony. Hey." Bruce gently tapped his friend's cheek with the palm of his hand. "Tony, you have to eat something. And I need to give you a shot."

Bleary brown eyes blinked. "What?" Tony muttered.

"Come on, sit up." Bruce yanked the lever beneath the seat and pulled it into an upright position. "Wake up, Tony. Roll your sleeve up."

Tony obeyed. He was too exhausted for his usual wisecracks. Bruce stabbed three syringes into three different vials, and then cleaned the soft skin of Tony's forearm. "You got a stimulant?"

Bruce emptied the first vial into Tony's body. "And adrenaline, and vitamin B12. Should keep you on your feet."

Tony licked his chapped lips. "Legolas needs that more than me."

"No, we have to speed your heart up and slow his down." Bruce injected the second medication. "Have you had a chance to consider my idea?"

Tony's left eyebrow stretched up. "Of course. I did the math in my sleep." He winced at the third needle and spoke again only when it was out of his arm. "You don't need a power source as strong as the Tesseract to activate Loki's scepter. The arc reactor can definitely do it." Tony tapped the circle of light on his chest. "We just need the equipment to hook me up to it, and I'm your human battery. A far more portable one when this radiation kills me."

Bruce's nostrils flared. "I'm not going to let you die. Either of you."

Tony looked at his friend almost as if he felt pity for him. "You can't catch me this time, Big Guy."

"I can at least slow you down until we find something that can."

Tony sat up straighter. He changed the subject. "Is that schawarma I smell?"

Bruce helped Tony unbuckle himself and stand up. "Steve thought you'd prefer that to whatever we found in the vending machines at the hospital." Banner chuckled at the look on Stark's face. "You're not used to people going out of their way to help you, huh, Tony."

"If they're on my payroll or need something from me, sure. I've never really had…"

"Friends?"

"Teammates." Tony didn't notice Bruce's wince. He let Banner lead him to the open trunk where Steve and Natasha sat eating from their containers. "Captain, Agent Romanoff. Haven't said 'hi' since Indiana. How much further?"

Natasha used her fork to point at a map of the United States at her feet. "The military base is about thirty miles north of Cheyenne. It's been abandoned for years, but Clint and I have camped out there when we got desperate. I hid some emergency supplies inside. Nine hour drive. Eight and a half if we hurry."

Steve glanced at Clint who lay, sprawled out, across the back row of seats in the SUV, squeezed into Tony's old clothes with his head cushioned by a bath towel. "I think we better hurry."

"Shh!" Natasha suddenly hissed. "Steve… do you hear that?"

"Hear what—" Steve began. A thrumming sound came from behind him. He strained his ears, concentrating. Tree branches and blades of grass swayed in a sudden breeze. Steve dumped his food. "Banner, I'll help Tony. You two start the trucks."

"Think someone at that hospital recognized you?" Natasha wondered as she dug keys out of her pocket. The breeze turned into wind, the wind into gusts. The thrumming sound vibrated their skin.

"We can wonder about that later. For now, let's get out of here!" Steve led Tony into the second row of seats of the first SUV, then jumped into the passenger seat beside Banner in the second. Natasha, with Tony and Clint, did a 180 in the lot and led the way out of the park. Banner floored it behind her. They kept their headlights off, but it was already too late. The Avengers had been found.

The black helicopter emerged from the tree line like lava from a volcano. A pair of spotlights landed on the SUVs and didn't lose them even when they merged and headed towards the city limits. Tony's cell phone chimed. He hit speaker and held it up to Natasha's ear. "What the hell!" Bruce hollered. "Natasha, we're sitting ducks on the highway!"

Natasha coaxed the truck up to 90 mph and swerved around a pink Mustang. "That helicopter is standard issue FBI," she explained. "They won't fire on us with civilians around."

In the other car, Steve and Bruce exchanged glances. "Are you sure? That machine is unmarked. Are you sure it's not S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"Oh my God…" Stark suddenly gasped.

"What?" said Steve, Banner and Romanoff.

Tony stared at the rear-view mirror. "Banner, hit the brakes _now_. _Now_!"

Bruce obeyed, and the helicopter's first missile hit the pavement between the two trucks. Banner growled as he yanked the steering wheel to the left, barely avoiding the new crater in the middle of the highway. The second missile collapsed a bridge fifty yards in front of them. Quick reflexes and even quicker maneuvers got Natasha past the falling rocks, but Bruce was forced to stop. Tires squealed, rubber burned. The SUV's momentum was too great and it rolled, ending up on its side, passenger doors down, halfway into the pile of debris. All Natasha and Tony saw in the mirrors was the helicopter bearing down on a plume of white smoke.

Natasha parked in the center lane. "Suit up, Stark. Get Clint out of here." She took out her gun and opened the door.

A hand clasped her shoulder. "Wait," Tony gasped. "Just wait."

"They'll kill them!" Natasha snapped. "Stark, they'll kill them!"

A deafening roar preceded a brief earthquake. Shades of green became visible through the dissipating smoke. A figure ten times the size of a gorilla and a thousand times stronger climbed to the top of the bridge's remains with a crumpled SUV in his hands. Like a child throwing rocks at a bird, the Hulk catapulted the truck at the helicopter, sending it crashing down and out of sight beyond a dark neighborhood. The Hulk disappeared again into the smoke, and then reappeared with an apparently unconscious Captain America over his left shoulder.

"Shit," Tony cursed. He summoned his strength and followed Natasha out of the truck. "Put your gun down, Romanoff!"

Tasha lowered her weapon but didn't holster it. The two Avengers stood still, side by side, and watched the Hulk amble over to them. He sniffed, grunted, and then dumped Steve at their feet. Cap landed spread-eagled on his back, his jeans and black t-shirt ripped, knuckles and right shoulder bleeding. Tasha knelt beside him and checked his vitals. "He's all right," she reported to Tony, "just knocked out."

Stark stepped past them and approached the Hulk. "Nice going, Big Guy. You saved the day again."

The Hulk knocked his left fist into the pavement. "Tone…" he growled, "Tone-y."

Stark held his palms up as he got closer. "That's right," he soothed as if talking to an excited dog. "It's me, Tony, your—"

"Team…" Hulk said. He pointed at his green chest, then at Tony's glowing one. "Teammate."

"That's right." Tony lowered his hands, blinked twice, stared. "Friend," he clarified, "I'm your friend." Those were the magic words. The Hulk's muscles deflated and his spine shrunk. White-tan-pink skin replaced the emerald. Bones popped, eyes calmed and a moment later, a naked Bruce Banner collapsed to his knees, gasping. Tony grinned. "There he is."

**To Be Continued**


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary:** While struggling to evade the authorities, save Barton's life and cure Tony from radiation poisoning, the Avengers discover that Loki had a backup plan, and Earth is still in danger. A sequel to the movie, featuring Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner, also Clint, Natasha, Thor and Loki. Friendship, angst, drama, lots of hurt / comfort.

**Wires**

PenPatronus

Chapter Three

Clint Barton squinted at the yellowed paper Natasha found taped to the abandoned facility's door. He read it aloud for the rest of the Avengers to hear and as he spoke, he realized that he recognized the handwriting.

_Hello Naomi and Carl, _

_I told you once that I could track you wherever you go, but you didn't believe me. It's a good thing we've never been on opposite sides. You're good with a spatula, Robin and you're good with a knife, Wolf Spider, but I would win because of reasons you don't have security clearance for… yet. _

"Time out." Tony Stark sat in the SUV's center row with his head resting against Steve's rolled up jacket. "Who the hell are Naomi and Carl?"

"Us," Clint and Natasha said at the same time. "We have a dozen aliases," she explained, "including 'Robin' and 'Wolf Spider.'"

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Good with a spatula?" Steve quoted. He stood outside the car with Bruce and Natasha on either side.

"That's code for bow and arrow," said Hawkeye.

"What's 'knife' code for?" asked Bruce.

"A knife." The Black Widow gave him a smug smile. "Keep reading, Clint."

Barton sat up straighter so that he could breathe easier._ "When I see you next month I'll pretend that you won the bet, lie and say that I wasn't able to find you in this hide-and-seek game of ours. I'll even buy you steak dinner like I promised. But the next time you retreat back here and read this note, you'll know who the real champion is. You owe me lobster. _

_Sincerely, _

_Perry_

_P.S. Find the last doorknob and turn it 189.76 degrees to the left. _

Clint gently brushed a layer of dust off the bottom half of the paper, carefully folded it and handed it back to Natasha. "Coulson?"

She nodded and pocketed the letter. "Coulson. I haven't been here in eight months – you?"

"Not since Fury leashed me to the Tesseract."

Natasha patted the back of Steve's forearm and said to Bruce, "You two come with me. Let's see what presents Agent Coulson left us."

Steve and Bruce raised their eyebrows at the back of Natasha's head as she walked toward the building. They didn't argue or ask questions yet. They were on S.H.I.E.L.D. turf, in the Black Widow's hands. They followed.

The facility wasn't fancy. What it was was minimalistic and gutted from top to bottom so thoroughly that they couldn't tell if it once belonged to the CIA, the Air Force or a zoo for all they knew. Like an iceberg, most of it was underneath the top layer, which was little more than a rectangular brick building the size of a one-room schoolhouse. "Last doorknob…" Natasha muttered when they entered the dark room. "Last doorknob is the first drawer…" She turned left and dashed over to a dusty wooden desk in the corner. Inside the deep top drawer she found three books. Steve and Bruce joined her and watched her select the book furthest to the left. Inside that was a keypad with glowing Roman numerals. "18976," she whispered, and typed in the code.

A rush of wind behind them revealed a sliding trap door in the center of the dirty floor. Lights flickered, then shone, revealing an iron spiral staircase with a tiny sticker of a cartoon lobster on the stop step. "Nice," said Natasha. She peeked down the stairs and her smile widened even more. "Thanks, Phil."

Half an hour later the Avengers assembled all of their gear and supplies in the fresh, whitewashed underground lab. The equipment was just as good as the helicarrier's. It was stocked with enough food, medical supplies and power to last months. Bruce wasted no time with his idea to help Barton. He had to activate Loki's scepter and use the arc reactor to jump-start it. Understanding the scepter's abilities was the key to understanding what it did to Barton's body.

With Steve's help, Bruce set Tony up on a table in a corner of the room with cables leading from the reactor in his chest to the scepter. Programming the computers to take readings on devices they knew nothing about took time but by late afternoon, Bruce was ready. "Stand back," he ordered Steve, who retreated to the opposite corner where Clint and Natasha sat. "Ready, Tony?"

Stark gave them a thumb up and then closed his eyes.

"Here we go," Bruce whispered. He hit a button, completing the last circuit.

It was anti-climactic, at first. Every light in the room flickered with the intensity of a dying firefly. They turned off, briefly, then suddenly shone ten times as bright. Sparks erupted from Tony's chest. He yelped. His back arched up off the table. The scepter filled with blue lightning, pulsed, then shot out sparks of its own. A hum started at a low pitch and rose to a dog whistle. Stark screamed and banged his fists on the table.

"Tony!" Steve called. "Banner, abort it!"

"No, wait!" Tony yelled. He pointed at Bruce and shouted through clenched teeth, "Give it time – give it another minute!"

Bruce reluctantly took his finger off the button. The scent reached him, then. Undefinable at first, but then he saw a thin plume of smoke rise from Tony's skin. "Tony – _Tony_!" Stark didn't answer. His arm flopped to the table, his eyes rolled back into his skull and he went quiet.

"Abort!" Clint barked.

Bruce didn't hesitate again. He broke the connection between the reactor and the scepter, then rushed to the table. Though he'd been behind Banner, Steve reached Tony first. A ominous déjà vu triggered all of their memories when Steve asked, "Is he breathing?" and pressed his ear to Tony's lips.

Bruce's hands shook. "I – I think so. Get him comfortable. I'll get another injection." Steve ripped the cables out of the arc reactor and picked Tony up in a fireman's carry. Tasha helped Clint scoot off the only mattress in the building to make room.

"This shouldn't have hurt him." Bruce stuttered through his words and stumbled around the room looking for his medicine bag. He found it but Natasha stole it away. His fingers were shaking too hard to fill the syringe properly. "This shouldn't have happened!"

"Well it did!" Steve snapped. He rotated Stark's head so that Tasha could get a good angle at his neck. "Dammit, Banner! He's already weak – you're lucky that didn't kill him!"

"I…" Bruce ran his fingers through his hair and backed away. His thigh bumped against the table with the scepter.

Steve took a deep, calming breath. "I'm sorry, Doc. I'm sorry – look, I –" Steve looked over his shoulder and froze. "Dr. Banner?"

For the second time in a week, Bruce Banner stared down at his own hand as if it had detached. He'd grabbed the scepter, but didn't know why. "…the Hell?" he gasped.

Natasha slowly stood and stepped towards him. "It's like you're drawn to it. When you get upset and your guard is down."

"But why?" Steve wondered.

"Gamma radiation." Clint said the words so softly that the others almost missed them. "Gamma radiation created the Hulk, right? And the Tesseract and the scepter emit Gamma radiation." Clint intertwined his fingers, miming two puzzle pieces fitting together. "The S.H.I.E.L.D. docs found traces of Gamma on both Dr. Selvig and I…"

"And…?" Steve prompted.

"I don't know." Clint shrugged. "I'm not the scientist here. I just point out patterns."

Bruce set the scepter back on the table, then sat on the corner of the mattress beside Tony. "That thing was burning him," he said. "Why did Tony tell me to give it more time? He must have seen that the scepter was on. It was hurting him… why didn't he want to stop?"

Steve crossed his arms and held them tight against his chest. "This Gamma radiation, what else can you use it for? What can it do?"

"It's used all the time in the medical field." Banner plucked his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "Like… like in cancer research. They're experimenting with using it to kill cancer cells."

"I thought radiation poisons people?" Steve gestured to the unconscious Iron Man.

"Well, yes, in high doses. In some particular doses it can heal—" The realization shocked Bruce so hard that he dropped his glasses, shattering them on the tiled floor. "Oh my god…"

"What?" said Steve, Clint and Natasha.

"Son of a bitch cured himself." Bruce looked down at his unconscious friend. "You _are_ a genius."

It was then – right at the end of Banner's sentence – that a demigod crashed through the ceiling.

**To Be Continued**


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary:** While struggling to evade the authorities, save Barton's life and cure Tony from radiation poisoning, the Avengers discover that Loki had a backup plan, and Earth is still in danger. A sequel to the movie, featuring Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner, also Clint, Natasha, Thor and Loki. Friendship, angst, drama, lots of hurt / comfort.

**Wires **  
PenPatronus  
Chapter Four

Loki looked just as surprised to see the Avengers as they were to see him.

The Asgardian landed flat on his back with a spoon clutched in his hand. Apparently he'd been interrupted in the middle of breakfast. His clothes were the same, just cleaner. The arrogance on his face was replaced by confusion, the confidence by panic. Dust and debris rained down from the hole he made in the ceiling. For half a moment they just stared at each other, none of them believing their own eyes. Then Loki noticed the scepter on the table above him. "Brilliant," he said. A second later he was on his feet, his arm wrapped around Natasha's neck and the scepter in his grip. Steve bent his knees to charge him but froze when Loki pointed the scepter at Tasha's head.

Clint turned a shade paler as he fought his way to his feet. "Loki, you son of a bitch, don't you dare hurt her."

"How the hell did you get here?" Bruce demanded. He stayed seated but adjusted his position so that his body was between Loki and Tony. "How did you escape Asgard?"

Loki's green eyes looked bright beneath the fluorescent lights. "Oh, gentlemen," he said through short, gasping breaths, "it's truly a pleasure to see you again. I didn't give you enough credit. I thought it would take longer for you to activate my scepter without the Tesseract."

"You expected us to?" Steve asked.

The Black Widow struggled and Loki tightened his grip on her. "A contingency plan. My 'associates' programmed it into the scepter in the highly unlikely scenario I didn't succeed in conquering this pathetic planet. If the scepter is reactivated by anyone but me, it automatically transports me to it from wherever I am in the universe. A sincere thank you to whoever made this reunion possible."

Three pairs of eyes glared daggers at him.

"Now, I should run along before my ex-brother comes looking for me." Loki used Natasha as a human shield and sidestepped to the staircase. "Don't follow me. If you try, all you'll find is her dead body." Loki walked backwards up the stairs while keeping Natasha between him and the boys.

Right before she was out of earshot, Tasha called out, "Clint – just like _Budapest_!" She choked, presumably from Loki's grip. A minute later they heard the SUV pull away at full speed.

Barton slid down the wall until he collapsed to his knees. He pinched the bridge of his nose furiously. "Take it easy." Steve crouched in front of him with sorry eyes. "Sit still before you have another seizure."

Bruce remembered Coulson's letter. "Was that code, too?" he asked. "What Natasha said… What did she mean?"

"It's more like an inside joke," Clint whispered. "One that's not funny. It's a long story, what happened in Budapest. What she said… I think she meant that she wants us to go after Loki even if it'll get her killed."

"That's what you did in Budapest?" Steve murmured. "You went after her?"

Barton rested his head on the wall behind him. "She came after me," he whispered.

"You survived. She didn't get you killed."

Clint shut his eyes. "I don't remember much. I wouldn't, considering I was legally dead for three and a half minutes." He let his head fall to the side as exhaustion overtook him. "You have to find her, Cap… Consider it a last request…"

Steve watched helplessly as his teammate slipped back into unconsciousness. He looked at Tony, then Barton, then back again. "Now what do we do?" he asked the quiet room.

Bruce stumbled over to the computer terminals and started sorting through the data recorded from the scepter. Barely three keystrokes in and he cursed and kicked the table. Steve asked what was wrong but Bruce didn't respond at first. Ninety percent of his focus was on suppressing the Hulk. When the green blush on his cheeks faded, Bruce took a deep breath and said to Steve, "This is useless. Loki's entrance damaged the only computer we have that's capable of analyzing this. The little data we got is so complicated it would take Tony Stark six lifetimes to unravel it."

Steve's cheeks turned as red as Bruce's had been green. "So there's nothing more we can do. Barton's as good as dead."

The sudden lightning flashed so brightly through the hole in the ceiling that both Steve and Bruce had to shade their eyes. No thunder followed. The _god_ of thunder did.

Thor dropped into the room with his hammer in one hand and the Tesseract in the other. He marched over to Barton without a word. In a seemingly effortless motion, Thor picked Clint up and tossed him over his shoulder. Still without speaking, he raised his hammer towards the sky and disappeared back the way he came. The air cleared, the dust settled. Bruce and Steve stared at each other with bulging eyes. Both men took deep breaths and began to shout at each other, at Thor, at the missing Loki and the unconscious Stark, at the moon and the stars and everything else. Before they ran out of breath, though, Thor returned. Again he landed in the center of the room. Barton wasn't with him. He pocketed the Tesseract and dropped his hammer.

"Dr. Banner," the god greeted, "Captain Rogers, my friends. Forgive me, but I heard your words while I traveled here. I assure you that Barton is in good hands. The Asgard healers will take good care of him. Now – where's Loki?"

Twenty minutes later, after Steve and Bruce had updated Thor on everything he'd missed, Tony started to stir. Before he was conscious, his fingers scratched at the fading red lesions on his skin. Bruce noticed that Tony's color had improved, and his skin didn't feel so hot. His exposure to the Gamma radiation might just have knocked out the cancer caused by the nuke. If it didn't then Thor would have to take another patient back to Asgard.

"Pepper?" Stark whispered. Another minute passed before he opened his eyes. Immediately Steve held a bottle of water to his lips, and Tony sipped. While Bruce checked his vitals, Tony's focus shifted to Thor. "Hey, blondie…" he said with a slur. "If you're here, does that mean… Does that mean…" Tony licked his lips and struggled to organize his thoughts. "You tell Loki he can't have any of my booze."

Another twenty minutes. The others updated Tony and got him on his feet. Stark was woozy still, but seemed stronger. He moved like a drunk instead of a dead man. The lesions turned pink. Tony was healing, fast. Bruce confirmed that his vitals were strong. To be safe, just in case another god dropped in, Tony put on the Iron Man suit. Even if he passed out again it would keep him upright. The four men looked over the remaining supplies, ate their fill of the rations and, finally, circled up around the single working computer to come up with a plan.

When they were interrupted for a third time, it wasn't another Asgardian. They heard the telltale thrum of a helicopter and by the time they got their belongings and climbed to the top of the stairs, another three copters joined the first. Spotlights shone down into the building. Soldiers dressed in armor as black as the helicopters rappelled down thick ropes with guns in their hands and grenades on their belts. They circled the building in moments.

"Oh my god," said Steve. Thor, Banner, Stark and Rogers stood back to back at the top of the spiral staircase. "That's what I saw. Their armor, their guns. That's the same stuff I found hidden on the helicarrier."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s phase two," Tony growled. The Iron Man mask snapped down into place.

"I don't think so." Bruce's shoulders slumped and it took a lot of strength to point. "Look, they have patches on their shoulders. WSC."

Thor twirled his hammer in his hand. "WSC?"

"World Security Council," said Steve.

"_The_ Council," said Tony. "Fury's superiors. Fury's superiors who tried to drop a nuclear bomb on Midtown."

Thor's frown took up his entire face. "Are they not our allies?"

"They blame us for what happened in New York. Not our biggest fans."

Banner risked glancing at the others over his shoulder. "What do we do?" he asked. "Steve…?"

Captain America lifted his shield and squared his jaw. "We don't have time for this. We have to find Loki and Agent Romanoff. That's our priority." Steve took a deep breath. He bent his knees. "Ready to smash, Banner?"

The others didn't see Bruce roll his eyes. He answered Cap's question by charging out the front door.

**To Be Continued**


End file.
